The Turkish state has increased its genocidal attacks against North-East Syria since 5 October. The attacks have directly targeted civilian settlements, as well as 3 power stations, 2 oil facilities, 2 water pumping and gas stations.

The attacks have claimed the lives of 6 civilians and 6 members of the Internal Security Forces, while 12 people were injured, including 2 members of the Internal Security Forces.

The latest wave of attacks came after the Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan declared on Wednesday that the entire infrastructure in the north and east of Syria was a “legitimate” target of the security forces, the military and the intelligence service. Fidan justified the attacks by claiming that he wanted to fight “terrorism” by using the guerrillas’ attack on the General Directorate of Security of the Interior Ministry in Ankara on 1 October as a pretext. The Turkish government claims that the guerrillas involved in the action were trained in Syria and entered Turkey illegally from there. Both the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the AANES in Rojava as well as the People’s Defence Forces (HPG) in Southern Kurdistan (Northern Iraq) rejected this account as a “lie” and a contrived pretext for war.

The bombardments were directed against over 40 locations in Heseke Canton, Qamishlo Canton, the Euphrates Region, Afrin-Sehhba region and Manbij.

A number of civilian infrastructures, such as the Hime water pumping station in Heseke, were targeted by repeated bombardments and left out of service. An attack on a factory in the village of Mişêrfê Himê, located in the same region, left 3 workers injured.

In the Qamishlo Canton, Turkish forces shelled dams, power stations and oil stations. A number of villages were bombed in the Euphrates Region and Afrin-Shehba region, resulting in casualties and material damage.

An aerial attack killed 6 members of the Internal Security Forces and injured 2 others in the village of Til Hebeş, 3 km south of the Amude district in Qamishlo Canton.